As a part of our The Recipe Book series we visited the team at The Daily Apron in Lisburn. They are a friendly local café serving up great baked goods and sweet treats to suit anyone. Read on to learn a bit more about them and find out how they make some of their classic sweet treats.
A shortbread is a butter rich biscuit which is sweet and rich, it was first invented in Scotland but is popular across the UK and Ireland. The buttery flavour of a shortbread makes it the perfect biscuit to dunk in a cup of tea.
Kathy from The Daily Apron explained her method of creating the perfect shortbread biscuit which starts with butter, sugar, plain flour, and corn flour.
The butter and sugar are creamed together in a stand mixer, if you have made a cake before you will be familiar with this process. Once the butter and sugar are combined the two flours are mixed in. The pastry dough will start off looking like breadcrumbs in the stand mixer but will soon come together in a cohesive dough.
When rolling out your dough onto your surface it is important to lightly dust the surface with flour. Without flour to dust the surface your dough will stick but too much flour will change the mixture of the dough and it will dry out and crack.
Lightly knead together your dough just until it is full brought together then roll it out to your desired thickness. For easy rolling Kathy suggests pressing the dough flatter with your hand then using the rolling pin to roll it away from you, then turn the dough 90 degrees and roll again. Once the dough is your desired thickness use a floured cutter to cut them into shapes.
The shortbreads cook in the oven only until they are slightly brown around the edges and remain pale in the middle. And then there you have it, the perfect buttery and sweet shortbread.
If you are making shortbread sandwich biscuits ensure you roll your dough out a bit thinner and cook for less time.
Malteser sweets aren’t the only malted thing about these delicious slices, they consist of a malted biscuit base, toffee centre, and chocolate coating dotted with crunchy Maltesers. A truly decadent treat for your coffee break.
This sweet treat starts with crushed malted biscuits which are mixed with melted butter and pressed into a baking pan. If you have ever made a cheesecake before this is similar to the process of the cheesecake crust. The difference being the ten minutes this biscuit base spends in the oven to become golden brown.
The toffee centre is made up of a mix of condensed milk, golden syrup, and butter which are melted down and combined to create a rich and sweet middle layer for the slice. When making this part, you must keep stirring and use a medium heat to prevent burning or sticking. This layer is added to the biscuit base and then is left to cool for an hour.
Once the toffee layer is cooled it is time for the chocolate topping. Kathy simply melts 400 grams of milk chocolate in the microwave. The chocolate is spread on top and then sprinkled with Maltesers and then sliced when cool. This daily apron classic is complete!
Kathy’s Nutella cookies start off like regular double chocolate chip cookies with a delicious recipe including butter, sugar, brown sugar, chocolate chips, and more. She details all the amounts and methods in the video if you want to try for yourself. But how do they get that melted Nutella centre in their cookies?
The magic to their gooey centre cookies lies in freezing a tablespoon of Nutella an hour before you start making your cookie dough. Once your dough is ready and portioned into balls, you can split the portion in two placing the Nutella in the middle and encapsulating it in dough. Once the cookies bake the Nutella will melt leaving a beautiful chocolatey surprise for you when you break the cookie in half.
Melting moments are a similar biscuit recipe to shortbread and melt in your mouth. Kathy serves hers up with pink buttercream and beautiful crisscross patterns created by simply placing a fork in water and indenting the dough before the biscuits are cooked. Why not try making these delicious treats yourself, all the instructions are in the video above.
Flakemeal biscuits are a great choice if you want a oaty, wholesome flavour out of your biscuits. Katy’s uses porridge oats and a little bit of desiccated coconut which adds both texture and flavour to the biscuits.
These oaty and buttery biscuits don’t take long to make and are well worth your efforts, you don’t have to mix too long as you want a firmer dough that will keep its shape.
Once baked you have the option to dip half the biscuit in some melted milk chocolate or keep them as they are and sprinkle a little sugar on top. Either way you will have a beautiful sweet and savoury bite to enjoy.
The Daily Apron in Lisburn focuses on creating a friendly community atmosphere in their café by showing they care through everything they do. These videos only show a small selection of the amazing baked goods they produce. The team there makes sure everyone can grab a sweet treat providing options for Vegans and those with Gluten allergies. They continue to create new and delicious treats for you to try so why not pop in and say hello?
You could also try out some of these great recipes for yourself. The ingredients lists are written in the video description and Kathy’s helpful instructions will help you throughout. Then you can enjoy the amazing treats from The Daily Apron even if someone else grabbed the last Millionaires Malteser Slice.
For more amazing Northern Irish produce check out our article on Carlingford Oysters and Stock Kitchen.
Eman Sameh Adopting healthier eating habits can be a delightful adventure, especially when it comes to exploring the world of nut and dairy-free snacks. This article is dedicated to bringing you a variety of snack ideas that […]
Shaimaa Olwan Dairy-free high-protein snacks can be a delightful and fulfilling solution to satisfy your cravings for delectable foods if you are trying to find the correct combination of nutrients while also meeting your nutritional needs. This […]